Friendships and Falling Apples

We spent the night last night at my parents house, so while Chris caught up on some much needed sleep this morning, the boys and I entertained my parents over breakfast. The boys love being here so much, and it reminds me of the way I used to feel about being at my grandparent's house. The toys were better there, the food was better, the air smelled fresher, and there was so much to explore and do. I think my grandparent's house was my favorite place to be when I was growing up, and I can tell M and E feel the same way about their grandparent's house. The picture on the left is of the new snow in my parent's back yard.

After breakfast, Chris, Dad, and I left M and E with Mom and drove around the city to get an idea about neighborhood prospects and the best ways for him to get to work. I think we learned some valuable information about where we don't want to live (it turns out we are suburbanites at heart), and can move forward from there. We have a few more neighborhoods we want to look at on Sunday and then we will be much better informed and able to house search in March. Funny enough, the house we liked the best of all the neighborhoods we drove through yesterday (four hours of driving) was the one I found on my morning run - right behind the pond and park behind my parent's house. I always swore I would never be one of those people who spend their whole lives less than a mile from where they grew up, and it looks like a possibility that I might have to eat my words. Good grief. What is that about the apple not falling far from the tree? Can I at least be a Braeburn (a well travelled apple)?

We spent the evening with our dear friends Bob and Julie and despite the fact that we only see them once a year (and all their kids have grown up so much), we felt like we had never left. They are the type of friends you can see occasionally but feel like you've never missed a beat. We had a wonderful time catching up with them, and our boys had a fantastic time playing with their kids and all the new and exciting toys. At midnight, all of their kids had put themselves to bed, but M and E were going strong, full off energy and bouncing off the walls. I don't think they've ever stayed up that late or expended so much energy playing, so after 30 seconds in the car on the way home, all three of our boys were asleep - making for a very quiet ride home for us.